Dragon magic is a strange thing. In full-blooded dragons it is natural as breathing, something that is always there no matter what. The further generations get from their Dragon Ancestor, the harder it is for them to find the source of magic and to bring it to flame. Half Dragons, like Araki, are occasionally known to have their magic bring out draconic features, and abilities, which explains why he was able to feel the soldiers coming to arrest him. In the case of the Battle of the Wings, the half-dragon only known by the title of "Flame Bearer" was able to withstand Gold Dragon fire.

***

"Richard Smith, your up next." A brown haired boy staggered up into the center of the room, nervously looking around at he Dragon Riders sitting all around the room.

"Remember, reach inside and try to do anything, anything with your magic." one of the Riders spoke from the edge of the room. I sat in a strange bench, that curved around half of the room. More benches stood behind them, slowly going upward so that every person had a perfect view. Brea had left to return to her classes, leaving me to watch the strange things going on in the middle of the room.

"You can start when ready." Rick skewed up his face, and I turned my head away, looking at the elaborate paintings that decorated the room. One of them was really quite interesting, showing a pale grey dragon flying through the sky at night, thunder crackling around its head. The most interesting part was that the painting appeared to have been painted over where the gold Band wrapped around its foot, and where the rider was on its back. The color scheme was slightly off, and just something about it was wrong.

"That will be all, Rick" the Dragon Rider made a tick on his clipboard. Apparently this Rick had been able to do something, the person before had stood their for ten minutes without doing anything.

"Now, Alyssa Moore?" The girl sitting to my left rose and confidefully strode to the middle of the room.

"You may begin when ready." Allyssa closed her eyes, looking as though she was concentrating hard. Just as I was going to go back to examining the painting, a sphere of water appeared in Alyssa's hand, and she opened her eyes, staring at the water in awe before in evaporated away and she collapsed. A young Dragon Rider who had been observing the proceedings hurriedly lifted her off the floor and placed her on a nearby bench.

"She'll be fine" he said.

"Thank you Isaac. Next up, Gwyn Scribe?" I stood up and made my way to the floor. Surrounded by all the adult Dragon Riders, I understood why Rick had been nervous. But if they could all do it, I should be able to, right?
"You may begin when ready" a middle aged woman said off to my right. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. What had they said about magic? Something about your inner fire, the power of the dragons. I hadn't really listened. There was nothing unusual about me. No source of magic that I could suddenly feel. But as I relaxed, an image flashed back in my head. Silver fire. Fear. A familiar voice, the feel of warmth all around me. And I reached down and drew on a magic. It had always been there, that's why I haven't felt it before. It was so familiar. And so I drew that magic into me, letting it rush in my body, go through my blood, and then I let it out. Silver fire began to sprout from the ground, engulfing the area around me. I could feel its heat, but it didn't hurt. It felt good. Right. Just as flying had. And as I let the magic rush through me, I felt something else click inside. Suddenly my vision sharpened, by hearing was suddenly acute. There were screams coming through my screen of fire.

"I don't want to hurt anybody" I drew the magic back into my body, placing it where it had always been. Around me, the Dragon Riders were looking at me in shook. The students who had already shown their magic were jealousy looking at the ground, which I realized was burned by the fire.

"Impressive, Gwyn. Would you mind staying after class and talking with me."

"Actually, Miss, Brea said she would take me to see the dragon stables." I stumbled over the words, afraid. What had I done differently?

"Oh, of course. Tomorrow then, come to class early. I expect to see you there." she stood up from her seat, "after that demonstration I suspect no one will be able to focus on their magic, so you may leave." I hurried out the door as quickly as I could and down the hallway, hoping that I remembered where Brea's class was. A few older students gave me an odd look as I half walked, half ran. I didn't want any of the students in my class to catch up to me and ask me how I did it. I didn't have any idea how. Brea was coming out of a class talking to a handsome young man with dark black hair. Or at least I assumed he was handsome. I'd never really thought of any boys as cute, really.

"Oh, you got out early, Gwyn. Sorry Loki, but I have to go." The boy smiled and nodded, turning down the hallway.

"Jeez, I really should break up with him" Brea murmured, "maybe I could get Isaac. He's certainly the most polite in this school. Anyway, I promised I would take you down to visit the dragons. Come on." We walked down several flights of stairs. People nodded to me and Brea, and I looked around, quite in awe of everything. Their were huge statues of dragons, paintings and other works of art. At one point down a hallway I spotted a strange mirror in which everything was blurry. Brea led me through a fairly large hallway and opened a nondescript door.

Inside the stable were four dragons, smaller than the ones I had seen before. Dragonlings, Argus would probably call them. The one closest to us was silver colored, and the next over was gold. The other two were both blue, but one was a deep dark blue like the color of the ocean, and the other was light and pale like the sky.

Brea walked me over to one of the silver dragons. The stable was big, but still the Dragonling took up much of the space. On the door to his stable was a name, Owain, and below that were "Owned by Brea Willow"

The dragon was about the size of a small horse. His scales were a dark silver color, and his horns were twisting in a fascinating pattern. He stretched his neck out and I could see his eye, a pale blue. And then something echoed in my mind, which I knew he had said.

"Hello again, little sister."